Box Score
BOCA RATON, Fla. – Relishing the role of underdog, the fourth-seeded Eckerd College men's soccer program assembled an upset to remember in the semifinals of the Florida Blue Sunshine State Conference Championship, eliminating No. 1 seed Lynn University on Friday afternoon in a shootout.
With steely resolve, freshman forward
Joe Swindell stepped to the line and shattered a 4-4 tie in the shootout session to cap a perfect 10-for-10 team effort on the set play so far in the postseason.
Swindell found the target after teammates
Matt Duffy,
Mark Lee,
Nick Jackson and
Nick Murawski, cashed in, replicating an identical sequence from the quarterfinal advancement against No. 5 Saint Leo University on Tuesday.
“I was confident and I'm confident that I could do it again in that situation,” Swindell said.
But his winning shot was set up by another clutch save from senior goalkeeper
Andrew Hoffer, who smothered a blast by First Team All-SSC selection Jack Winter on Lynn's second penalty kick try.
EC converted all five PK's against another first-team all-conference honoree, Lynn netminder Matt DiCerbo.
The Tritons (7-8-4 overall) defeated the Fighting Knights (14-3-1 overall) to punch their ticket into the championship final on Sunday at 1 p.m. against No. 3 Rollins College, who defeated No. 2 University of Tampa, 3-1.
“We put ourselves in game-like situations during practice and this team continues to show more togetherness the further we get,” EC Head Coach Steve Magee said. “We had a lot of work to do before we got to the shootout. We're excited to face Rollins (on Sunday); they are a well-coached team and a very good team.”
Eckerd will be aiming for the program's second SSC Tournament crown in school history, winning the league's inaugural event back in 1978 when the Tritons went 15-1 under the direction of Dutch Blauvelt.
There have been 11 SSC Tournament championship finals since 1978.
The Tritons also defeated Lynn, currently the nation's fourth-ranked program, for just the third time in school history.
Against a Lynn team stacked with four All-SSC selections, including three on the first-team ballot, EC put the pressure on the home team when 110 minutes of regulation and overtime expired.
Led by ringleader and SSC Defensive Player of the Year,
Matt Duffy, EC's defense held strong against a barrage of 25 shots while the Tritons fired four. Hoffer reportedly made a pair of point-blank, game-saving stops after an unidentified Lynn player got behind the back line of the defense.
“We defended like our lives depended on it,” Magee said. “I think it's a young group that's really grown up under the leadership of Matt (Duffy). He's helped a lot of guys along the way and helped them recognize what playing the SSC is all about. It's part of his legacy he'll leave behind.”
The Tritons and Tars will re-unite on the pitch for the third time this season on Sunday with the Florida Blue SSC Championship on the line. The highly-anticipated match will get underway at 1 p.m. in Boca Raton.
Live stats and live video/audio will be provided by the host institution Lynn. There is a possibility EckerdTritons.com will travel to join the team and provide an audio broadcast.
